Professional boxing in the 21st century has fallen into a worn state of disrepair, and this is something that still makes me sad. Persistent instances of corruption, rumors of fixed fights and dishonest promoters getting rich while fighters sometimes work as slaves have taken what was once one of the most closely followed and popular sports in the world and transformed it into shady, tabloid entertainment. Of course, it wasn’t always like this. As a young man I was an avid fan, watching televised...

I sincerely hope that this purported Topeka-Capital Journal article is a hoax… somebody’s very poor idea of a bad joke. Planning under way for Obama holiday Plans are being made to promote a national holiday for Barack Obama, who will become the nation’s 44th president when he takes the oath of office Jan. 20. “Yes We Can” planning rallies will be at 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. every Tuesday at the downtown McDonald’s restaurant, 1100 Kansas Ave., until Jan. 13. The goals...

New presidents promise or hint at many things which they can’t personally deliver without the support of Congress, the courts, foreign leaders or the American people in general. In fact, outside of starting (or ending) wars, hosting huge parties or granting the odd pardon here and there, the list of things the Oval Office occupant can do in single handed fashion is fairly limited. The one exception to this rule, however, is the Presidential Executive Order. (You can take a tour of all the orders...

Many observers have been having a grand old time making light of President Elect Barack Obama’s promise to bring a puppy into the White House for his children. I would like to suggest that there is a bit more to this story than throwaway fluff pieces and one-liners for Leno and Letterman. Obama addressed this briefly during is first press conference. Between addressing his plans for the economy and his transition to the White House, Obama noted that whatever dog they get will have to be hypoallergenic...

I’ve spent a fair bit of time lately criticizing P-E Obama’s cabinet choices which has led some of my Right-leaning readers to warm up to me slightly. Just to ensure that I keep the anger levels tuned up properly on both sides of the aisle, allow me to offer up another in my ongoing series of despicable attacks on Sarah Palin and her family. You are cordially invited to check out my latest column at Pajamas Media. Memo to Governor Palin: Stay in Alaska The first chapter in the story of...

As a follow-up to my previous post on Obama appointees I would invite you to take a critical look at this editorial from Mark Karlin. The very progressive (or liberal, as you like) editor of BuzzFlash describes his long, storied and occasionally dysfunctional relationship with Rahm Emanuel, providing us with an excellent insider perspective on what the new Chief of Staff will bring to Team Obama. Karlin was no fan of the pick either, but as it turns out his reasons were pretty much the opposite of...

It would seem that our merry band has increased by one. My wife finished all of the paperwork and legal wrangling and brought home a new addition. He’s a schnauzer who was rescued by animal protection services from a puppy mill where he had been kept in a crate as a stud dog for six years. He’s had virtually no human contact or warmth, so he is understandably skittish and not sure if he belongs here or what he should be doing. Before coming to my house he spent a couple of days at the...

On our Thursday radio show, we took a look at some of the speculation around President Elect Obama’s appointments for his cabinet and staff. I’d like to summarize some of our discussion and add to it with some suggestions and analysis of where we stand so far. The first choice, of course, was Barack’s selection of Rahm Emanuel as his Chief of Staff. He’s certainly qualified, but he represents the sharp elbows of partisan division which have characterized Congress for far too...

The answer would appear to be, when the mandate referee is Bob Novak. The first Democratic Electoral College landslide in decades did not result in a tight race for control of Congress. […] [Obama] may have opened the door to enactment of the long-deferred liberal agenda, but he neither received a broad mandate from the public nor the needed large congressional majorities. Something smelled bad about this as soon as I read it, but fortunately, Ali Frick at Think Progress has already done the heavy...

Matt Lewis of Town Hall has caught wind of some questionable activity out in Oregon, where the tight, contested Senate race between Jeff Merkley and Gordon Smith is going to a recount this week. I’m hearing that there are some strange goings on in Portland, Oregon today. Apparently, the press are being asked to leave the building where the ballots from yesterday’s election are stored. The Democratic officials in charge of the building are saying there has been a flood. In terms of sourcing,...

After eight years of being evicted from the White House, several of them spent in the wilderness of legislative minority status under an opposition President, some Democrats may be quick to start dancing on the graves of the current GOP and licking their chops at the prospect of taking revenge on their former tormentors. I would caution you against such actions. Frankly, the behavior of some of the more liberal Democratic supporters during their time in the minority was highly disappointing. The...

The picture to the left is one of the sad tasks I had to attend to this morning. (You may need to click on it for a larger version.) I went outside and removed my Barr-Root Liberty for America lawn sign. Like my TMV colleague Tyrone, I voted for Bob Barr yesterday, though obviously not with any expectation that he would win. At my house we have been very wrapped up in this election for the last two years, though occasionally at cross-purposes but still with good humor. And now, at long last, it is...

In addition to the excellent live blogging done by Shaun, the Lady Logician and I will be on the air at this link for your listening pleasure from 6:30 pm eastern until 8:00 pm as the returns begin to come in.We’ll be joined by our very own T-Steel for this episode! Feel free to join us as the mystery unfolds. There will be a continued live chat going on at Hot Air, available at this link and going on now, for you to chat with other voters while we watch it play out. When our radio show ends...

As we sweat out the rest of election day and wait for the results to begin, you might want some options in terms of passing your time, and we’ve got a few for you. First, at 1 pm eastern time, we’ll be back on the air for a special election day episode of Mid Stream Radio. Rick Moran of Right Wing Nuthouse will be one of our guests and we’ll take one final look at election 2008 in its final hours. Feel free to tune in, join in the live chat, or call in with your own comments or...

While many folks are busy describing this election as a transformational moment in how we approach elections, I ran into a situation this morning which reminds me that some things never seem to change at all. I was out taking my old hound dog for an early morning walk around the block when I passed one of my neighbors, a woman who lives down the street. In our usual way of finding some sort of small talk in passing, I asked her, “So… you and Roger heading down to vote this morning?” I...

While Holly already linked a breaking news update on this, CNN is confirming that Sen. Barack Obama’s grandmother has died less then 30 hours before the grandson she raised may potentially be voted in as the first African-American President of the United States. As I previously stated, this is simply too much to take in all at once. No matter how you feel about each of the candidates or who you support, this is one aspect of the story which I did not want to see come to pass. She raised her...

My friend Ed Morrissey has apparently had a little bird whispering in his ear who is claiming that McCain may sneak up at the last moment and capture Minnesota from Obama. This morning, one of the first e-mails I opened was from the McCain campaign, claiming that the presidential race in my state had pulled into a dead heat. Sure, I thought — Minnesota barely has Norm Coleman ahead of Al Freakin’ Franken. Obama should be up 15 here under those circumstances, and in fact the MinnPoll has Obama...

Well, except in Arizona and Hawaii they are. Most of us set our clocks back an hour on Sunday morning. Am I the only one who is totally out of sync from that this year? For some reason it really seemed to sneak up on me. I was falling asleep on the couch at the corrected time of 8:30 pm last night, which threw off my already slightly shifted schedule. That always makes me less able to sleep, so I was up again in the middle of the night. And, of course my Basset Hound doesn’t give a tinker’s...

I was going to write this post, and actually began a draft of it last night, but I was too lazy and Allahpundit at Hot Air beat me to it. While I personally think some of the commenters in that thread may have begun drinking a bit early, AP’s assessment of the key states to watch and what time the polls close in each is pretty close to what I had. 7 p.m. Indiana, Virginia 7:30 p.m. Ohio, North Carolina 8 p.m. Pennsylvania, Florida, Missouri ———————————– 9 p.m. Colorado,...

Do men get a free pass when it comes to physical attractiveness, while the bar is set higher for women seeking high office? This new study from Discovery seems to indicate that could be the case. Beauty Benefits Female Candidates, Study Shows Oct. 31, 2008 — Women running for top offices need to appear competent and attractive, according to a new study. For male candidates, seeming competent may be enough. For male candidates, the only thing that mattered to male voters was competence, while...

If current projections hold true and the Obama/Biden ticket carries the day on Tuesday, this is the question posed by Festers at Newshoggers, in what he describes as Biden’s “Cheney Problem.” Let us assume that Barack Obama and Joe Biden win on Tuesday. I think that is becoming extraordinarily likely. This will produce one hell of an interesting Republican primary in 2012 as there are multiple divided power blocs, but also a very divided Democratic primary cycle in 2016 as there...

I see that both the Sunday morning talking heads and the McCain campaign are trying to spin some last minute gold out of damp, moldy straw. It all centers around a single, off the cuff remark from Barack Obama on Friday. Seizing on a comment Obama made Friday that his faith in America was “vindicated” by his win in the Iowa caucuses, McCain mocked the Democratic presidential nominee for needing a test of the nation’s goodness. “We learn more and more about Senator Obama. He...

Of course, like all truly-refined political junkies, I’m sure that The Moderate Voice is your one-stop-shopping choice for the best news and opinions. But looking beyond that, a new study out from the Pew Research Center examines where voters are getting their political and campaign news this year as compared to times past. Some of the results will likely come as no surprise to internet-savvy voters, but some of the items may come as a shock. Check out the results in the table below. Television...

I was on the road for some family business, but still manged to keep up with the news. It was only this weekend that I think a shock of cold, harsh reality has struck. Like many of us, I follow the polls, the political news, the talk shows, and I try to divine what’s going on in Election 2008 across the nation. Like most, I try to keep a positive attitude. I understand that the polls can change on a dime. When your candidate is down, they often come charging back at the last moment. When they...

With apologies for the groan inducing headline, we go to the New York Post. (Who actually endorsed Obama this week, by the way.) Barack Obama says he admired John McCain, the 2000 version. These days? Not so much. Hours after McCain released an ad citing past praise from Obama, the Democratic nominee said Friday he respected the unsuccessful 2000 primary campaign McCain waged against then-Gov. George W. Bush. Obama noted the Arizona senator’s stand then against negative political attacks. “I...